RAMSEY CROOKALL & CO

24th October 2012

Evening  Report

The FTSE 100 finished up 6 points (0.12%) @ 5,804 as the benchmark recouped a small portion of its 1.4% loss on Tuesday.

Chip designer ARM Holdings continued to make gains after its impressive third-quarter results yesterday. It was announced yesterday morning that the company beat forecasts in the third quarter and gave a confident outlook for the rest of the year. The semiconductor intellectual property group said that total revenue in the three months to September 30th rose 20% in sterling terms from £120.2m to £144.6m, ahead of the consensus estimate of £140m.

Shares in household products and personal care behemoth Reckitt Benckiser also jumped after it produced solid results for the third quarter, with like-for-like net revenue growth of four per cent at constant exchange rates driven by strong growth in emerging markets. It also said it will meet growth expectations.

Miners are doing a good job of propping up the FTSE, boosted by the upbeat economic data out from China overnight. Kazakhmys was the biggest of the sector's risers, with ENRC, Antofagasta, Evraz and Vedanta all hot on its heels.

Meanwhile, banks were taking a hit after Sir Mervyn King, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, warned of further banking losses, saying they were "inevitable". In a speech at the South Wales Chamber of Commerce in Cardiff on Tuesday, he said: "In the 1930s, faced with problems of sovereign and other debt similar to those of today, the pretence that debts could be repaid was maintained for far too long. We must not repeat that mistake."

Information services provider Experian was pulling back following yesterday's strong rise after it said it was increasing its stake in Brazilian credit bureau Serasa from 70% to 99.6% for $1.5bn in cash. Jefferies labelled the stock as a "core support services holding" but downgraded its rating on the shares from 'buy' to 'hold' on valuation grounds.

Cigarette and tobacco giant British American Tobacco (BATS) was under pressure after organic revenue growth and volumes were worse than expected in the third quarter. On a reported basis, sales fell 1% on the back of adverse exchange rate movements.

Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) was subdued after seeing growth in US revenue per available room (RevPAR) moderate in the third quarter as a result of a seasonal impacts.

THE FTSE 100 Closed                          Up                    6            @   5,804 THE DOW JONES @ 16.30                        Up                   25            @   13,127 THE NASDAQ COMP @ 16.30                      Up                    2            @   2,988

Exchange Rates

GBP – USD     @ 16.30            1.6020 GBP - EURO   @ 16.30            1.2361